2016 Grammy Nominations: Fairly Predictable But Still Room For Snubs

The nominations for the 2016 Grammy Awards were announced Monday, and to nobody’s surprise, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd led the pack with the most nods. Lamar pulled in the most nominations, 11, while Swift and The Weeknd received seven nods each.

Ed Sheeran took to Twitter to share his excitement about his nominations. Even though he says he wasn’t expecting any nominations, no one’s jaw dropped over his hit “Thinking Out Loud” receiving three nominations. The song, which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 (and remained there for eight weeks straight), earned nominations for Record of The Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. Sheeran also received a nomination as a songwriter for The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness” for Album of the Year.

Another Brit to earn three nods is James Bay. The rocker will be going up against his tour mate from earlier this year, Elle King, for Best Rock Song. After his breakout year, Bay is also up for the coveted Best New Artist and Best Rock Album for his debut album, “Chaos and the Calm.”

While many of the artists that make up the nominees for the big categories are obvious Top 40 contenders, the Grammy Awards still left room for some misses. Although Drake wasn’t shut out completely (earning nods for his songs “Energy” and “Back to Back” as well as his album “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”), his song “Hotline Bling,” one of the most ubiquitous songs of the moment, was left out, despite being released before the cut off date. Last year, the Grammy’s asked Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney to perform their collaboration “FourFiveSeconds,” but perhaps forgot about the track, seeing as it received no love from the committee.

The award show honors music released October 1 through September 30, which is why 1989 may feel a little dated and why Adele is noticeably absent. This at least will give Bieliebers and Directioners another year to hope for nominations.

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